Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he will make sure judges are “crystal clear” about the new sentencing laws for people who assault prison officers or on-duty first responders such as paramedics and firefighters.
Luxon told Herald NOW’s Ryan Bridge that the Government is putting a “triple line” under the new legislation to toughen up sentences to ensure judges pay attention to it.
“I’m sorry you can’t discount sentences by more than 40% anymore,” Luxon said.
He said he “did not care” if judges believed they would be able to work around the legislation. The Government would be making sure that judges listened to its instructions.
Luxon told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking the new laws would protect the people who “don’t deserve to be bashed or assaulted”.
On concerns the new laws only addressed the maximum sentences and the risk that judges would not back the Government’s plans, he said he was pushing forward regardless.
“I’ve had people say to me, ‘Oh, well, what’s the evidence for putting a tougher sentence on them?’ I don’t really care.
“I mean, I want the firefighters and the paramedics safe. If you’re working at St John, you go to help someone, you don’t deserve to get beat up as a result.”
Yesterday, it was revealed that the Government was introducing longer prison sentences for people who assault prison officers or on-duty first responders, while a swathe of other sentencing laws came into effect.
The proposals create a new, specific offence for assaults on first responders.
Luxon returned to the country on Friday after 12 days on the road where he visited Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang in China before attending the Nato summit in the Hague.
What are the new sentencing laws?
Yesterday, the Government’s harsher sentencing rules began, which include capping the maximum discount judges can apply and preventing repeat discounts for youth and remorse.
The Government is also expected to announce more changes to justice legislation this coming week. The Herald understands one announcement has been proposed by the Ministerial Advisory Group for Retail Crime.
The group was established in July 2024, to address the rising issue of retail crime, particularly focusing on strengthening citizen’s arrest powers and use-of-force options for retailers and the public. The group is chaired by Sunny Kaushal.
It comes amid the proposed new laws for prison sentences for people who assault prison officers or on-duty first responders, such as paramedics and firefighters, which include:
- Assaulting a first responder or prison officer to have a maximum sentence of three years’ imprisonment. This expands an existing provision on assaulting police to cover all first responders and prison officers.
- Assaulting a first responder or prison officer with intent to injure will have a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment. This is a two-year increase in penalty from the standard offence.
- Injuring a first responder or prison officer with intent to injure will have a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment and will be added to Three Strikes. This is also a two-year increase in penalty from the standard offence.
The sentencing changes that came into effect yesterday include capping the maximum discount a judge can apply at 40% with some exceptions.
Repeat discounts for youth (18 to 25) and remorse are gone, which Goldsmith said had allowed for “lenient sentences”. They are only available once and not for further offending.
A new aggravating factor has been introduced for offences against sole-charge workers and those whose homes and businesses are interconnected. This targets crimes that take place at a corner dairy, for example. This was part of the National-Act coalition agreement.
The use of cumulative sentencing for offences committed while on bail, in custody or on parole will be encouraged “to denounce behaviour that indicates a disregard for the criminal justice system”. This was part of the National-NZ First coalition agreement.
A “sliding scale” for early guilty pleas has been implemented with a maximum discount of 25%, reduced to a maximum of 5% for a guilty plea entered during the trial. Goldsmith said this would prevent undue discounts for late-stage guilty pleas and avoid unnecessary trials that are costly and stressful for victims.
